Chinduggery
by Ubiquitous Wraith
Summary: After China's secret is revealed to Skulduggery, she struggles to win back his favour. Set after the events of Death Bringer.
1. Chapter 1

China wasn't sleeping. She wasn't letting herself sleep.

She'd lost everything. Her beautiful library was gone. The chic furnishings, all those priceless books, all her treasures. There were few things left in the wreckage of the library that hadn't been turned to ash or soaked in tar. She rescued nothing.

The new apartment was cold and drab. Something was growing on the ceiling. When the podgy estate agent had first shown her around the building, China had actually wept. But it was all she could afford - and more to the point, all she deserved.

She'd moved in immediately, found herself a dark blue futon and wasted green armchair and resigned herself to the fact that this was now her home. She stayed in her self-made grot, playing music on a battered CD player, and looking in a mirror at her own pale face.

Right now, China lay on the futon, listening to Martin Grech singing about wanting more meaning in his life. He was good. His soft voice and gentle rhythms, washing over her in waves, were just what she needed. It was like being back in the sea. China used to swim. Not as a means of keeping fit, like Valkyrie. She'd just liked to step into the water and feel the rhythm of the tide. Some days she'd spend all day in the sea, and then go to bed at night and still feel it pulling her body back and forth.

God, that was a long time ago.

Before the Church of the Faceless. Before she'd met Skulduggery.

China shook her head. It hurt to think of Skulduggery. She hadn't heard from him since the day Eliza Scorn destroyed everything. And he'd just stood there, saying nothing. Lowering his gun, like he didn't have the strength to hold it up.

She was going to have to confront him, say something, before she walked out of his life forever.

Martin Grech stopped singing. She started the CD again.

The next morning she woke to find her ears were still plugged, the music still piping in.

China tossed away the CD player, suddenly sick of Grech. Today she was going to go outside. Maybe she'd cook some proper food for -

What time was it?

China checked. Almost eleven.

Well, she'd make something. Anything. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Maybe all three. She had to occupy herself in some way or she'd turn into Blanche Dubois. The mirror would have to go too.

A knock at the door surprised her. She stepped back. Who was this? Who knew where she lived?

"Anybody there?" somebody said from outside. It was a man's voice. "I've got a letter."

China relaxed. Of course. The postman.

She opened the door. The man looked at her face, blinked, but said nothing. China suspected he hadn't fallen in love with her as she was used to. It was hardly surprising, given how she looked, but it was still painful.

"A letter?" she said.

"Yeah." he produced a small brown envelope. "Just thought I'd introduce myself, like, in person. Jerome O'Donnell."

Jerome was young with red hair. He looked damp from the rain. China took the envelope. Her address was on the front in green ink. She threw it on the carpet by her feet.

"Thank you," she muttered. "Is the rain bad?"

The postman's eyes flickered to the window behind her. "Well, it was worse yesterday. They said on the news it would clear up."

"I'll have to take your word for that."

There was a beat of silence. China looked into Jerome's eyes. She sighed.

"Has anyone ever told you," she said, quoting Streetcar, "that you look like a prince from the Arabian Nights?"

His face broke into a disbelieving smile. "Well, no, but thanks for the compliment. You're a sweet lady."

China nodded, feeling a fool, and watched him leave. She kicked the envelope across the room, then, having nothing better to do, went to retrieve it and open it.

The letter was short and written on thin, cheap paper.

Tanith Low staying in County Kildare, 16th-24th.

The letter was unsigned.

Well, China thought, this was interesting. And here she was thinking her days as an information broker were over.

This was... peculiar. Somebody had found out where China lived and delivered this letter - this scrap of information - for nothing. China knew none of her contacts dealt this sort of information without expecting something in return. This... this was something a friend might do.

But she had no friends. At least, she didn't think she did.

China ran through the possibilities. It couldn't have been Valkyrie. They had confided in each other from time to time, it was true, but they were not friends. Not then, and certainly not now. Besides, if Valkyrie had known anything about Tanith, she would have gone to Skulduggery with the news.

Gordon, who now existed in echo form in his old house, couldn't have been the one to send the letter either. Echo-Gordon couldn't pick up a pen. Besides which, he wasn't a part of the outside world any more. He couldn't have known about Tanith.

Skulduggery would have taken the information straight to Ghastly, and Ghastly would have taken the information all the way to Kildare on his own.

Then it occurred to her. Could Tanith have written the letter?

With the right materials, China could have verified the penmanship by carving a few symbols. But she didn't have the right materials.

She checked herself. The sender wasn't the most important thing right now. What was important was whether the information was accurate. And if it was, what would she do then?

Valkyrie Cain opened her eyes. There was a feeling floating just out of her reach. It was pain. It flooded in as she drifted back into the room and she gritted her teeth.

"Don't move," said a voice.

Valkyrie tried to turn her head and hissed.

"What did I just say?" It was Skulduggery. She managed a sideways glance and saw him sitting at the side of her hospital bed.

"Oh, _Jesus,_ that hurts," she said.

His voice carried a tone of concern, but Valkyrie could tell he was trying to be light-hearted. "You never do what I ask you. I think you must be intimidated by how great I am. How much wiser I am than you. I may have to start using reverse psychology on you. No, actually, forget that. I'm _not_ using reverse psychology on you."

"Skulduggery..."

"Yes?"

"You're not making much sense."

"And you're moving your head too much. Keep still."

Valkyrie huffed. "What happened, then?"

"You don't remember?"

"I remember going up against a few vampires on the pier in Haggard and throwing them into the sea..." Valkyrie slowly recalled. "And then we saw the water churning and something... something massive came out and... And that's all I remember."

Skulduggery nodded. It was painful to look at him sideways like this. "That's about the point you were knocked out," he said. "I had to battle a fully-grown Farraige Dragain on my own. You would have been suitably impressed, had you not decided to take a nap."

"I wasn't taking a nap," Valkyrie scowled. "A fully-grown what?"

"Sea Dragon. You don't remember? It was glaring right at you just before you decided to catch forty winks."

"I was NOT catching forty winks!"

"You weren't? But I saw you. Horizontal, snoring-"

"I never snore. What happened to me?"

Skulduggery coughed. "It slammed into you, a bit."

"A bit?"

"A lot. So I threw fire in its face and sent it back into the water. It didn't mind that much. The dead vampires, that's what attracted it in the first place. So it got busy eating those. Just be thankful it didn't eat you before I stopped it."

Valkyrie sighed. "You're not my hero."

"You're welcome."

"Damage report?"

Skulduggery stopped making jokes for a second. "Well, most of your ribs are broken, one of your legs, and your head, well..."

"Took a bit of a whack."

"Yes."

A thought occurred to Valkyrie, a thought that made her want to sit up at once. "Is Nye here?"

"Not right now. Don't worry, Clarabelle will be keeping a very close eye on you. How's the pain?"

Valkyrie grimaced. "It's not fun."

"You'll have to stay here a day or two," Skulduggery informed her. "If anything happens, anything at all, you should alert me." He dug in the drawer of the bedside table and pulled out Valkyrie's phone, placing it in her hand. "It should be charged."

"Thanks."

Skulduggery got to his feet.

"I was wondering," Valkyrie added, her head to the ceiling, "are you used to seeing me getting beaten up? I mean, I appreciate your trying to keep the mood light, but-"

"That was a gerund," Skulduggery interrupted. "I like gerunds."

"What?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"Er..." Valkyrie tried to remember what they were talking about. "Oh yeah. Does it bother you when I'm beaten up, or is it, like, I'm learning a lesson? Or is it that you know I'm going to be all right really?"

She heard his footsteps on the floor of the theatre as he walked off. "I move in mysterious ways," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

China's taxi drew up to her destination and she paid the driver. She was sad to see him drive away. He'd been nice. Not fawning or declaring undying love, but nice. Almost avuncular.

What was she doing, thinking like this? China was never supposed to need anybody. That was the way she worked.

Frowning to herself, China approached a grubby little tattoo parlour with peeling paint on the door. Inside she could hear people arguing. She entered the building and walked across a carpet so thick with dust that it actually changed the colour of her shoes.

She'd tried her best to look beautiful again. She'd washed her hair in the communal bathroom at the end of the hall that morning, done her makeup and thrown on a new jacket. Even so, her face glowed white under the makeup and her coal-black hair lacked its usual lustre.

"My wife wanted daisies!" roared a burly customer, grinding his thick knuckles. "She specifically asked for a chain of yellow daisies trailing down her arm, and what did you give her?"

The tattooist was Finbar Wrong; a powerful Sensitive, but a physically weak man. He eyed the other man's muscles nervously.

"Uh," he said. "Yellow daisies?"

"They might have been yellow, mate, but they were NOT daisies. They were dandelions."

Finbar shrugged. "Well, the, um... the thing is... Well, they're both flowers, aren't they? They're both kind of pretty."

"They're WEEDS!" the customer exploded. "You put weeds on my wife's arm! What kind of sodding garden do you have?"

"Uh, I don't know. It's been a while since I've, uh, been out the back. I could have a look now, if you want."

"NO, I DON'T WANT!" The customer leaned over and picked up Finbar by the straps of his vest.

China delicately cleared her throat, and they both looked round. The customer immediately dropped Finbar, who landed in a heap, beating some dust out of the carpet in the process.

"Not disturbing you, am I?" China said, trying a smile.

The customer was staring. "Er... no?"

"Then by all means," she said, "carry on."

Finbar was looking at her now.

"No, you're, er, you're all right," the customer insisted. "I'm Thaumaturge Stout."

"China Sorrows," China reciprocated. "Not to be rude, but could you and your muscles please step out of the room while Finbar and I chat?"

Stout blinked. "Yeah, sure. Anything you say."

China smiled graciously. Still got it, she thought, watching him stomp outside.

Finbar was getting up, beating the dirt off his bony frame. "I thought you might come here at some point," he said. "To be honest, though, I thought you'd be here earlier, asking if the Skul-Man was going to kill you."

"Perhaps he's still deciding how to do it," China said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know why I'm here now?"

Finbar smirked. "Guess."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you think I know or not? Guess."

"Finbar Wrong, I don't have time for this. Have you seen any visions about Tanith Low?"

The smirk dropped from Finbar's face. "Tanith Low?"

China could feel her patience fading. "Tanith Low."

"Does she by any chance live on Drury Lane?" offered Stout, loitering in the entrance. A glower from China sent him scurrying away again, shamefaced.

"I have had one vision about her, actually," Finbar said. "I think she'll be in Ireland some time in the near future, but I don't know exactly where. Sorry."

Now they were getting somewhere. China leaned forward over the counter. "Did you see anything else? Was Sanguine with her?"

"Er." Finbar scratched his head. "No, not really. Why did you want to know this?"

China was about to tell him, to confide in him. Then she remembered her rule about not trusting anybody. She shook her head. "That doesn't matter," she said. "I have some information. Thank you for confirming it."

"Oh right," Finbar said, sounding faintly pleased. "So, is this something I should tell the Skul-Man?"

"I'll tell him myself, thank you, Finbar."

"Oh. But..." He scratched his head again. It looked like he had a mosquito bite. China hated those. "I thought you two weren't speaking. Like, you had a falling-out or something. That's why he's coming to me so much these days, for visions, new leads, all that kind of stuff."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You know, I think my visions are generally starting to come in stronger, you know? Ever since that one about Darquesse pricked my mind, I've been seeing other things clearer. somebody offered me a job at the Sanctuary. I told them thanks, but no thanks. That woman Elder gives me the creeps. I can't stand spider people. No offence to spider people, but I had a bad experience once with a daddy-long-legs, and now any insect that looks a bit-"

"Thank you," China said, cutting him off. "If I need you again, I will call you. Oh, and about your customer... try telling him they're marigolds."

China went home, removed the makeup and looked at her face again. She wasn't happy. Perhaps a facade tattoo would be a good idea. All she needed were the right tools and she's be able to do it.

Then she looked at the letter.

The information was rightly Ghastly's. He had loved Tanith, after all, and it was his search. But telling Skulduggery about it now would give him time to work out a plan. He was good at his job - the best, probably. And it would give her an excuse to talk to him, to explain a few things.

Well, not explain. But there must be something she could...

China sighed. She'd been on this thought loop for months. If she was going to talk to Skulduggery, she was going to have to stop thinking about it and just do it.

...Perhaps it would be better to practise on somebody who hadn't known her so long, who held less of a grudge. The more she thought about that, the more it seemed like a good idea. Valkyrie Cain. There were things she couldn't explain to Valkyrie, but it was a start. And then Skulduggery could know the whole truth.

Valkyrie hated being in hospital. She hated lying still in a bed all day while her friends continued to save the world. Tanith had been the same, always itching with unused energy whenever she wasn't right in the middle of the action.

Valkyrie had been beaten up by a Sea Dragon. That was annoying. Having dispatched twelve or so vampires, she'd been smacked in the face by a giant fish. She'd never even seen a Sea Dragon before. It was probably like an eel, but scalier and with more teeth. It was definitely big, though, from what Valkyrie had seen. Big and blue.

A few beds away, Clarabelle was dancing to some upbeat pop music and chewing gum. She was having a great time. Unlike Valkyrie.

"Are you going to keep that colour?" Valkyrie asked, nodding at Clarabelle's azure blue hair.

"I don't know. I'm not sure if Nye likes it. If any hairs come out while I'm seeing to a patient I can spot it better. Nye found one of my hairs in a patient's stomach. It wasn't pleased. I was only looking. I've never seen a pancreas from the inside before."

"Right."

Clarabelle fluffed her blue hair thoughtfully. "I might dye it white next time, like Professor Grouse had. Then I can use washing powder instead of shampoo."

Valkyrie didn't know how to respond to this, so she didn't. "Is Skulduggery visiting today?"

"I don't think he has an appointment for the Sanctuary hospital. It's OK, though. He's probably out there doing something really important."

Valkyrie sighed and sank back against the pillows. "Yeah."

Across the ward, there were footsteps. Valkyrie strained her eyes to see who it was and saw China Sorrows, as beautiful as ever, walking towards her. The walk was different, somehow, but the smile was the same as ever.

"Good afternoon, Miss Cain," she said.

Valkyrie shrank into the covers as Clarabelle looked curiously on.

"I thought you didn't make house calls," Valkyrie said.

"I don't. You don't need my sympathy anyway. I was wondering if you knew where Skulduggery was."

"I don't think he wants to see you."

"But I want to see him. Now be a good girl and tell me where I might find him."

Valkyrie bristled. China had patronised her like this once before. Valkyrie wouldn't let her do it again. "If you don't leave right now, I'm going to have the cleavers escort you out."

Clarabelle nodded. "It's not like you have an appointment either. I think."

China clicked her heels. "Listen to me, Valkyrie. There are things I need to tell Skulduggery. Some are to do with a case he might be interested in, some are not. But you have to understand that this is a matter of urgency. We don't have much time left."

"Whatever you have to tell Skulduggery," Valkyrie insisted, "you can tell me."

"You'd be surprised," China replied, all of the humour gone from her voice.

All of a sudden a look of surprise came over Clarabelle's face, as if she'd just worked something out without meaning to. "You're wearing a false face."

China blinked. "What?"

"Once I put on a lot of makeup for a first date," Clarabelle reflected thoughtfully. "To make myself look pretty. But then he didn't recognise me." She shrugged and put her music back on.

Valkyrie looked closely at China. Her skin did look a little waxy. But China wouldn't need to use a false face unless...

Unless it wasn't China.

"Deactivate that face," Valkyrie ordered.

China sighed. "Must I, dear Valkyrie?"

"I need to know that you're who you say you are. Get rid of it now."

China nodded slowly and brought a hand up to her collarbone. She tapped at the symbols that were etched there, and the facade flowed away.

Valkyrie stared. It was China all right. But she'd changed since their last meeting. The kicks that Eliza Scorn had driven into China's nose has bent it out of shape. Her lip has a scar running down it. Another ran under her eyebrow. One cheek was grazed skin. And she was pale and thin, and her eyes were dark.

"Oh my God," Valkyrie breathed.

"Mortal policemen took me away," China explained without emotion. "Mortal doctors tried to repair the damage. But it did no good. I have been broken. People are staring at me in a very different way now." She coughed. "Do you know why Scorn was blackmailing me?"

"She wanted you to help bring back the Church of the Faceless," Valkyrie said, remembering what she'd been told. "That didn't happen, obviously. But that's not going to make me change my mind. I'm not telling you where Skulduggery is."

China leaned into her. Valkyrie could smell cheap perfume and bleach.

"Valkyrie," she said. "I have been an ally to you for some years. I've been Mr. Pleasant's ally for even longer than that. There are things you don't know. What you do know is that I have foregone again and again my neutral standing to allow good people like you to do their job. This is just another one of those instances. Let me speak to Skulduggery. I'm certain he can handle it."

Valkyrie tried to stare out those pale blue eyes, but they just glinted back like polished steel. She sighed.

"He's at Gordon's house. Talking to him about that sea dragon off the coast of Haggard. Don't tell him I sent you."

China smiled thinly. "Thank you." She turned and left, ducking past Clarabelle, who was dancing away again.


	3. Chapter 3

Tanith Low peeled her eyes open slowly. The room she was in was dark and unkempt. There was a smell like blown-out candles. And there was somebody in the corner sitting. Waiting. Tanith smiled, and then the smile became a smirk. Black veins bloomed over her skin and she went to get up.

She couldn't.

Why couldn't she get up?

Then she felt the binding shackles on her wrists and yelled in fury. This wasn't supposed to happen. Where the hell was Sanguine?

"This isn't what we planned!" she spat at the figure in the corner. "Let me speak to somebody."

The figure shook its head and threw a spent match in her direction. It had a male-sounding voice. "This is exactly what we planned," he told her. "You're a remnant, and as such a risk to the whole operation. Besides, you wanted to pose as bait. This will help you get into character."

Tanith sighed. "I hate these naturalism jobs." No response. "Let me out of these shackles, for God's sake. I'm not going to let anybody down. I'll act as bait when the time comes, but you can't keep me locked up."

"Yes," the man said, "we can."

He got up and walked towards the door.

"Let me go!" He wasn't listening. "I SAID, LET ME GO!"


	4. Chapter 4

China hadn't done any serious tracking in quite some time. It wasn't really her style. She preferred to face her enemies head-on - or let somebody else face them for her. She'd never had any trouble finding people to do that. She knew that even with this face, even with all the blame resting upon her, all her misdeeds, she could still get people to fall in love with her.

But was there any meaning in any of it? Of course not.

China frowned and tapped the dashboard. For some time she'd felt a growing appreciation of the company of others; an irrational need for human companionship that had never been there before. She couldn't understand it. After all, what did she need other people for? Why should she have this urge to seek out the company of others when she should be perfectly happy with her own?

Deep down, the answer was there. She didn't like her own company any more. That secret had ruined her life. But another person could take her mind off it. Another person that she could love.

China lightly tapped her own cheek, a half-hearted slap.

She was being ridiculous. Love? She wasn't suited to it. She couldn't do it. These things didn't just happen. She was too old. And a thousand other reasons.

The door to Gordon's house opened, and from here the figure that walked out was matchstick-small. Skulduggery.

How old was too old? China wondered. Life as she imagined it was a series of obstacles designed to test a person's strength, develop them, make them better with age. And here she was, 400 years later, and what had she become? No, China thought, not everybody improved with age. They just became more like themselves.

Skulduggery was getting into his car. The car had already been etched with a symbol that would tell China how far she was following behind it. She watched the Bentley pass through the gate and move in the direction of the bridge. The symbol on China's wrist pulsed hotly, but she ignored it.

A few moments later, she judged it to be safe. She pulled her car out of its hiding place and drove. Now she had to concentrate on the level of heat from the symbol. If it became red-hot again, that meant that China was too close. If it was bearable, then there was a risk of losing him.

A year ago, she'd followed his example by hiding a couple of spare vehicles around the city. The car she had hidden under the apartment building was still undamaged and unstolen, but it was sleek and shiny, and the colour of lilac, and so would have been far too conspicuous. A dark green Mondeo wouldn't draw nearly as much attention. Even so, the detective had an uncanny ability to sense when he was being followed. China suspected that his time in the reality of the Faceless Ones had only made him more wary. Which was why she was proceeding so carefully.

Eventually, the Bentley turned down a short, cut-off street flanked on either side by funeral homes. China drove past it and parked a respectable distance away. He'd gone home. Evidentally Skulduggery didn't have many cases to follow up. What had his last one been? Vampires and a Farraige Dragain. That was hardly the end of the world. Perhaps this revelation about Tanith would give him something to think about.

China started walking, her shoes unsteady on the pitted pavement. Then again, she reminded herself, merely turning up on his doorstep would give him something to think about.

There was a knocker on the door. In the circumstance hadn't been so dire, China might have raised an amused eyebrow. But she didn't.

Before the fear of what she had to do put her in an armlock, she pulled her hair delicately behind her ears and then deactivated her facade once more. The best she could hope for was his pity. He had lost a face once. Perhaps it would be enough to make him listen to her.

China rapped the door three times.

Footsteps. Then his shadow through the window. She could see his head tilt as he examined her silhouette through the glass. China held her breath.

Skulduggery swung the door open, looked at her and said nothing.

"I have something to tell you," China said.

Skulduggery said nothing.

"Tanith Low. I received an anonymous letter informing me that Tanith will be in County Kildare from now until the 24th."

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

"Finbar Wrong confirms it. I hope the information will be of use."

Slowly, Skulduggery's head gave a nod. "All right," he said. "You can go."

China blinked. He shut the door.

No. China hadn't come all this way not to apologise. She knocked on the door again.

It was opened immediately.

"China," sighed the detective. "Back so soon?"

"There are some things I have to say to you," she said. "I want you to let me in so I can say them."

He shrugged. "Be my guest," he said, waving her into the house.

China stepped in, where the air was cold, almost as cold as the air outside. But there was more to it than that. The air was grey, almost dead. Like the man who lived here. The man who stood in front of her, arms folded, waiting for her to speak.

China wanted to speak, but her throat was stuck, like she'd swallowed a lump of clay. She took a deep breath, forcing her thoughts down flat. It was like being on the edge of a cliff, with that slightly suicidal part of your mentality telling you to jump. China listened to that part of herself, and then spoke.

"I'm sorry for what I did," she said. It was the first time she'd said the word 'sorry' - and meant it - in over 200 years.

Skulduggery took a step towards her.

"I don't expect your forgiveness," she said. She was growing more confident in her speech, feeling more words in her throat, ready to be spoken.

Then Skulduggery trapped the words with his hand, hurting her, forcing her backwards. China thudded against the door. She hit her head first and gasped in shock.

Skulduggery's skull was an inch from hers. Without a face there was no way to tell if he was caught up in fury or totally calm. Both were dangerous.

"What you expect," he said, "is to allay your own feelings of guilt. You want to feel better, to get it all off your chest. Well, it isn't going to be that easy."

Her hands struggled vainly against his.

"You," he told her, "were responsible for the deaths of my wife and child. You were there when I was tortured. You took away my life, China. You and your little gang took away everything I was.

"I know what you're thinking. How could I hold such a grudge? After everything I did - everything Vile did - how could I possibly blame you?"

He let her go and China slid to the ground and lost a shoe. She took in the first breath that came and said, "You're... telling me... about Vile?"

"I know you know the truth, China," Skulduggery said. "You met Vile more than once during the war."

China massaged her throat.

"Tell me why you did it."

She looked up at him. "They made me watch," China said. "I didn't want to watch. I didn't know the full extent of Serpine's plan-"

"Why did you give my family to Serpine?"

"I was on a different side!"

"The Diablerie had no side!"

China got up on one knee. "I was playing my part. You said it yourself, individual sacrifice is a part of war. Your family were unfortunate casualties."

"They were innocent!"

"So many people died-"

Skulduggery kicked her in the ribs and she gasped again.

"You call this an apology?" he spat. "You were a calculating, poisonous, disgraceful woman. Why should I forgive you? Why should I believe you could change? Your problem, China Sorrows, is that you don't see people as people. You see them as things to be used. You feel nothing for them."

China got back up, despite the pain. Her eyes spilled tears and she screamed at him. "I have feelings! I feel remorse and anguish and I know how to care for others. The years have shown me how foolish I have been. How dare you make me out to be some kind of heartless, soulless creature! I did what I did for a reason. It was the wrong reason, but at least I had one. Vile never had a reason and he would have annihilated his own family in the blink of an eye. You know that, detective."

If Skulduggery had had a face, it would be screwed up in disgust now, China knew.

"So you lost a family," China went on, though the sheer emotion of it all was embarrassing. "And yes, I had a hand in it. I lost people I loved too - my own mother and father, for example - and then I too was made to watch as the person... as somebody I loved was taken down, stripped of their power and their dignity. That was the day I lost my faith. I turned my back on the Church of the Faceless because there was nothing left for me there." She drew up to him. "Because for just one second... there was nothing left for me at all."

Skulduggery's head tilted, but his voice remained the same.

"So you were betrayed. How tragic. How injust."

China urged herself not to make a sound. No sobbing. It wasn't like her.

"Well, as far as I can remember," Skulduggery remarked, "you never mentioned this mysterious love of yours, so you're either lying or you conducted yourself with the same level of poise and composure that I've come to expect of you."

"I am not lying. Call in Scrutinous to check, if you think it's worth your time."

There was a very long pause. Skulduggery didn't move. China had been on her knees, and now she got back to her feet. She stared into his skull until he spoke again.

"Did I know him?"

"Yes."

Another pause.

"Skulduggery," she said softly, "you enjoy being a detective, don't you? You solved countless crimes, done wonderful things for Valkyrie's development. Don't tell me that the last hundred years or so of your life have been for nothing."

He turned to the wall. "If my family were alive..."

"But they're not."

"They would have been. If not for you."

China stared at him. "Are you sure?"

She knew they were both thinking the same thing - Vile. Lord Vile would have cut his own family down like a tree. No, easier than that - like a blade of glass. Surely, China thought, surely it was better that Skulduggery had never had something like that to weigh him down. She knew him. He would never forgive himself.

Would he forgive her?

"I'm sorry I hurt you," China told him. "You know I would never revert back to the person I once was. I will never do this to you again."

Skulduggery's voice was bitter. "I don't know what you'd do."

"I doubt that. We know each other very well. Skulduggery, if you ever need an ally, someone you can..." China stopped herself before the word 'trust'. "Just, use my services as needed and I will keep a respectful distance."

For a second, Skulduggery considered it. Then he nodded and took a coat from the hook on the wall. "We're going to find Tanith Low."

"We are?" China was mildly taken aback. "Now?"

"Right now. If you're at a respectful distance, I can't monitor your actions. If you're going to be a part of this case, you commit. Do you understand?"

China nodded. "What about Valkyrie?"

"When she's recovered, we'll bring her wherever the investigation takes us. I take it Valkyrie was the one to tell you where I was?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough. I suppose it's been a long time since you've been in the Bentley," he remarked, picking up the keys. "This ought to be fun."


	5. Chapter 5

Tanith had given up raging against the shackles that bound her hours ago. When the male figure appeared at the door again, she looked lazily up at him.

"Any news?" she asked.

His silhouette was totally still, like the shadow of an ancient statue. "That's no concern of yours."

"Then let me ask you this," Tanith said, playing her trump card. "How long has it been since you sent the tip-off to China Sorrows?"

"She received it yesterday."

"Well then, she and Skulduggery may already be on their way."

"Most likely." He struck a match and began lighting a cigarette.

"And Valkyrie?"

"In the Sanctuary hospital."

"And you predict they will bring her along as soon as she's able?"

"Yes."

Tanith hoped he could see the glare she shot his way. "Well, had you factored Doctor Nye into your considerations?"

He took a drag on the cigarette. "What are you talking about?"

"I've done some research. Nye is the Sanctuary doctor. Valkyrie is alone with it. What if Nye gets to her before we do?"

The figure said nothing.

"If you let me go," Tanith smiled, "I can find and deal with Nye. I only went to the Roarhaven Sanctuary once before the new Council of Elders was moved there, but that's once more than you. Let me free and I can make myself useful."

The figure laughed. "Miss Low, Nye is nowhere near the Roarhaven Sanctuary. We made him a part of the team two days ago."

Tanith's smile dropped. "You're not serious."

"Yes I am. Really, Miss Low, you'll have to do much better than that." He took a final drag and crushed the cigarette underfoot. "Valkyrie Cain will heal in another day and then Skulduggery will bring her right to us. Until then, you will remain here."

Tanith snarled her displeasure as the door was shut again.


	6. Chapter 6

Skulduggery drove to Finbar Wrong's tattoo parlour to check his vision about Tanith. Then he and China went to see Cassandra Pharos to see if she's had any similar visions, but she hadn't. As they carried out the investigation, China sat in the passenger seat of the Bentley and kept quiet.

The passenger seat. This was where Valkyrie Cain sat, at the side of the Skeleton Detective. China supposed it ought to be quite an honour, to be allowed to sit where Valkyrie sat. Valkyrie got to sit in the Bentley. Sometimes she even drove it. And she was so gifted and beautiful, and everybody seemed to love her. China could see it in the eyes of every sorcerer who spoke of Valkyrie. How special, how advanced, how spectacular she was.

Right then, it was difficult for China not to hate her.

"Now we're going to see a friend of mine in Kildare," Skulduggery told her, eyes on the road. "I need your skills as a symbolist. Open the glove compartment."

China did. Inside was a box, and in the box was everything she needed for carving symbols.

"This looks familiar," she said.

"That's because it is," Skulduggery said gruffly. "It's yours. I picked it out of the wreckage from the library."

China looked at him. "Why?"

"I didn't think you'd need it. Of all the things you might have rescued, it shouldn't have been something you could use as a weapon."

She frowned. Something about that reply sounded wrong. But then China nodded. Her legs were starting to go numb, so she rotated her ankles to help the blood flow. She didn't want to ask what she would need to carve symbols for.

Eventually the Bentley drew up outside, of all things, a garden centre. It looked pleasant enough to China - probably one of those centres with its own cafe and home furnishings section. She could get lost in places like that.

It was getting dark now. By the automatic doors, China saw a short man, almost certainly a member of staff. An overhead light was reflected from his bald head. Before he had a chance to lock up, however, two security guards stepped past him and breezed through the entrance. If Skulduggery had noticed them, he didn't call attention to it.

"George Penhaligan," he called out to the member of staff. "Or should I say Equivocus Dew?"

Dew visibly clenched his jaw and finished locking up. He walked over to them, pausing when he saw China.

"Skulduggery Pleasant," he adknowledged. "How... delightful to see you. And this can only be the illustrious beauty, China Sorrows." His gaze lingered on her injured face, and China pressed her lips together defensively.

"So, this is still your headquarters," said Skulduggery. "This is where you sell your magical secrets. How's business these days?"

"Perfectly satisfactory, thank you."

"You wouldn't have sold any thing recently, would you? I noticed you've upgraded your security system."

Dew shrugged. "Vampires. They serve a purpose."

"If you could give us any idea who your most recent customers were, it would be very helpful to us," Skulduggery went on. "There's a new evil going on in Kildare, and most of your customers fit the description of evil, I'm afraid."

"There's no shame in occasionally serving evil," Dew countered. "Everybody in the world is funding everybody's else's little projects. That's the way it works. Who cares where a certain customer got all that money so long as I'm only doing good with it when it's passed on to me?"

"Interesting philosophy," China remarked.

Dew looked her in the eye again. "It works for me. Of course, money isn't everything."

"Moving on," Skulduggery said. "I really am going to have to press you for your list of recent transactions. I need their names and I need to know what they wanted from you."

"And what are you going to offer me in return?"

"Magic."

This made Dew's eyebrow raise and his lip curl. "You're offering me Elemental magic and symbols? You'll have to do better than that."

"I've been trapped in the dimension of the Faceless Ones for almost a year, Equivocus. I've learnt a few tricks." Skulduggery folded his arms and drifted off the ground. As Dew watched open-mouthed, the detective demonstrated his new-found ability of flight, ducking and looping in the air. Then he landed effortlessly back on his feet. Dew seemed impressed.

"Perfect 10!"

"Well... yes. That's what we're bargaining with. Hand over the list and Miss Sorrows will help to transfer the power over to you."

Dew narrowed his eyes. "That shouldn't be possible."

"You're going to have to trust us. We know what we're talking about."

But Dew just shook his head. "I'm sorry. That's not the way I operate." His left hand stroked his chin. "Offer me something else and I'll consider it."

"What else could we possibly offer you?"

Even before Dew answered, China knew what he wanted. She felt his gaze on her. She should have been used to this, but for some reason she felt a cold shiver down her spine.

"You may have been injured, Miss Sorrows," he said with a grin, "but your beauty far surpasses it. Every fool who sees you falls in love, but I want to be one of the few who succeeds you."

"I beg your pardon?"

He turned to the detective. "I want thirty minutes alone with her."

China's heart beat loudly in her throat. She turned to look at the detective. She was out of his favour right now, and so she was in a dangerous position. What if he allowed it?

But Skulduggery shook his head. "No. China is too proud for that."

"I'm sure I can change her mind."

"You won't. You'll merely overpower her, and I know you could do it with all the magic you've gathered over the years. I'm not going to let you hurt her."

Well, China thought, that was nice of him to say.

"I'm sorry, Detective Pleasant, but that's the deal. Make China Sorrows mine, or leave before I have to fight you."

Skulduggery paused for a moment, shrugged, and summoned a flame in his hands. "Fighting it is."

China had wondered how long it would take before the fight started. Of course there would be a fight - this was Skulduggery Pleasant. But why did he have to start one while she was wearing a dress?

Dew ducked the first fireball that came his way, but the next one curled round at the last minute and hit Dew from behind. He shrieked and threw himself on the floor. China rolled up her sleeves, skimming over the symbols she had carved there. Which ones would be useful?

There was a blast from underfoot. The ground rumbled and Dew was smiling. China saw something reach up to grab her feet. It caught one of her shoes, but then Skulduggery was swooping down to catch her, pulling her up. A pillar of dirt grew out of the cracked concrete. It tried to follow them, but Skulduggery was quicker. Before China could register the fact that they were flying, she was on the roof of the garden centre.

"An extension of the Earth power," Skulduggery said. "How did he learn-"

"Look out!"

China rolled away as a mass of earth slammed down, missing her by a few inches. Skulduggery had rolled to safety too. He took out his gun and peered over the edge. China heard Dew whistling tunelessly. She got to her feet as Skulduggery approached.

"Stay here," he told her. "I'm going to go back down and take care of Dew. Then we go inside and find his list."

"Take me down with you. I can search while you distract him."

"You're not facing two vampires by yourself. Stay here."

The wind threw China's hair around her face, and she couldn't argue back. In another second, Skulduggery had jumped down, cushioning his landing. She envied him that ability. He went straight for Dew, manipulating the air, but Dew ignored him. He sprinted for the garden centre and ran up the wall, just like Tanith Low.

China stepped back from the edge. Dew appeared, grinning again. Two symbols flashed on her right arm and sent beams of energy slamming into Dew. He stumbled but did not fall off the roof. Then Dew dropped and rolled towards her. China moved away. He followed her, barreling across the roof at a fantastic speed that knocked her feet out from under her, and China fell. Part of her dress tore.

Dew flipped onto his knees. He pinned down her shoulders, activating the symbols there. Streaks of flame shot out, catching on his sleeves. China tried to wriggle free, but Dew's flames extinguished. He pressed his forearm to her neck.

Somewhere down below, the sound of glass smashing.

"I've heard that you carve symbols everywhere on your body," Dew smirked, his greasy head too close to hers. "And I'm going to find them all. I'll play you like a piano."

Another of Skulduggery's fireballs flared in the sky. Where was he?

Dew tore the arm of her dress.

No.

Yanked it down.

No, don't.

Her legs kicked furiously. One of those kicks had to work. One of them had to meet his shin or his thigh, something, anything, just to get him off her.

One of the symbols on her leg was activated on the next kick. Dew suddenly flew back, cracking his head on an invisible wall of air. He screamed and crumpled to the ground. China got up and stormed over. She grabbed what little hair he had and pulled his head up.

"WHERE IS THE LIST?"

Dew groaned.

"Answer me!"

His lips parted. "Under the till," he murmured. "Blue ring-binder."

China nodded and sagged. She was OK. She was going to be all right.

Then Dew's hand reached up and caught her wrist.

Suddenly furious, she grabbed his arm, squeezing as hard as she could. It was hurting him. Good.

Then he started to change, his skin glowing red, his smile returning. Pain shot up China's arm. The pain made her squeeze harder, which made it more painful. She had to let go.

Of course. He was right by the edge of the roof. China shoved. At first he seemed too heavy to move, but then he toppled. Dew went over with a yelp.

Just as he went down, Skulduggery came flying up, one of the vampires riding on his back. It was chalk white and disgustingly wrinkly. As China approached, it snarled at her. Skulduggery reached round, pressing one gloved hand into the creature's chest. It flew upwards and Skulduggery kept it there with his hands. When he clenched them into fists, the air around the vampire closed in. There was a crack as its bones were broken. Skulduggery let it fall without looking at it.

"China," he said, seeing her torn dress. "What did he do?"

"It's all right," she managed to say. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

She coughed. "Under the till, in a blue ring-binder. That's where we'll find the list. Where's the other vampire?"

"Taken care of. I know how to deal with vampires by now."

"Are you hurt?" China asked, seeing the tears in his own suit.

"I'm fine," he replied, mimicking her tone.

"Then perhaps we should find that list before anything else happens."


	7. Chapter 7

China tried to read the list of Dew's customer's in the Bentley, making out another name whenever a flash of light from the street lamps illuminated the paper. After a few minutes, however, her eyes drooped and her muscles sagged. She was suddenly exhausted. China realised that Skulduggery gave her an occasional sideways glance as he drove, but she didn't care. What he thought didn't matter.

He stopped outside the block of apartments where China now lived and waited for her to get out. She didn't move, so he nudged her shoulder. It was her bare shoulder, and China felt a brief sting of pain. When she looked, there were some of Dew's fingernail scratches on her skin.

"I'll walk you inside," Skulduggery said. "I can't stay here all night waiting."

China nodded weakly and opened her car door.

"You may have to sleep," Skulduggery said, "but I don't."

"I know, Skulduggery. I know."

He walked at her side, up the creaking flight of stairs to the first floor.

"You'd be amazed how much more you can accomplish if you don't sleep," he went on. "Though sometimes it feels like too much free time. When Valkyrie sleeps, I play sudoku."

China smiled. "I've always admired that sense of humour, you know. It seems a good way of dealing with the unpleasantness of life. I envy you that, sometimes. Irony and sarcasm are serviceable in the company of others, but will only get you so far when you are suffering."

Skulduggery didn't reply. China reached her door and unlocked it, and he peered in. China went in and found her armchair. She let him look at the room, the place she lived.

"Are you surprised?" she asked.

Skulduggery paused, still looking. "This isn't you."

"That is a good thing. I wanted to change."

"China, this is hardly an improvement. Why do you choose to suffer like this?"

She gazed at him. "For the same reason you choose to suffer with your own recriminations - not to forget." He stood in the doorframe. He stood still, and yet not uncomfortably - as though he had always stood there. "Skulduggery, I envy you. I am envious of your humour, your strength, your tolerance... But most of all, your ability to live with yourself. It's a mysterious skill that I have never been able to master."

He stayed still.

"Now more than ever, I feel overwhelming regret for the things I did during the war. I destroyed you and your family," she said. Something caught in her throat. "I destroyed you."

Now Skulduggery started to walk towards her, very slowly.

"Being a part of your life has been a privilege. Do you remember when we danced? The first time, I mean, not at the Requiem Ball. It was dark... just a thin sliver of moon."

"The war was over that night," Skulduggery said. "I remember. They played music as our side celebrated, as the dead were cleared away. We danced to distract ourselves."

"I remember you looking in my eyes." China's voice was barely a whisper. "And I was looking right into the back of your skull. Your face was gone by then, of course. but the way you moved your head... Just the way you did when you were alive." She slowly rose from her chair. "Skulduggery, why did you dance with me?"

Skulduggery looked at her, and she waited. Outside was the faraway sound of traffic, but in her head, she could only hear the music from hundreds of years ago.

And he said, "You had nobody. And I had nobody."

China hung her head low to hide her tears. She felt him move just a fraction, felt him move her just a fraction. Then she buried her face in the lapel of his jacket. Skulduggery let her.

He pities me, she thought. He's sorry for me.

But then, whilst she was resting in his embrace, she felt a hand on the back of her head. Stroking her hair. And China felt more tears rolling from her eyes, because it felt beautiful to her.

Back in the Sanctuary hospital, Valkyrie toyed with the yoghurt Clarabelle had given her. She knew that China had gone to speak to Skulduggery. What had happened, then? Had Skulduggery finally killed her? Was that the reason he wasn't replying to her texts?

He was supposed to keep his phone charged.

"If he's forgotten to charge his phone," Valkyrie announced to Clarabelle, "I'm going to sock him right in his eye socket."

Clarabelle dropped the pile of towels she'd been carrying onto the adjacent bed. "Sorry? I can't really carry stuff and listen at the same time."

"Never mind. I just haven't heard from Skulduggery, that's all."

"Oh." Clarabelle tossed her blue hair and glanced at the yoghurt Valkyrie had left. "I came to tell you that you're fine now and you can go."

Valkyrie sighed with relief and swung her feet out of bed. "I'd better call Skulduggery then. If his phone's even on."

"You don't need a towel, do you? I think I brought too many for the other man in this ward."

China had been on her own since the destruction of her library. She'd been on her own in the library, too, but it wasn't the same. At least there had been patrons coming in and out. In this new apartment, weeks would pass, and China wouldn't see another soul - much less touch them or be near them.

Of course, tonight, that had all changed. First, Equivocus Dew, who had been downright brutal, and now Skulduggery, who was being very soft with her. He was barely holding China at all, perhaps sensing that she was unused to this - and she appreciated it. China pressed her bare shoulder against Skulduggery's bony frame. An affectionate nudge, a way of expressing her gratitude.

Wait.

This wasn't right. This wasn't how China was supposed to feel. It was dangerous to feel like this.

Still, it looked as though Skulduggery was beginning to... despise her a little less. Perhaps now was a good time to claw back a little dignity. A little grace.

"Of course," she said, pulling away, "my influence over you was stronger then."

Skulduggery nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, it was." He paused. "Virtually nonexistent now. Not a trace left."

China forced herself to smile. "No?"

"No."

"Then... what is left?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What... exactly do you think of me now?" China delicately shrugged her shoulders. But as they came down, so did the remaining strap of her dress, and both her shoulders were bare. Skulduggery looked away.

China fixed her dress. That had been an unfortunate mistake.

"China, a lot of things have changed," he said, still looking away. "I appreciated your help in the past, but this truth... what you did... the way I think of you can never be the same. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

Skulduggery's phone began to ring. He answered it with his back to China. He was speaking to Valkyrie, agreeing to pick her up and drop her home. Finally he turned back to face her.

"I have to go," he said in a strange voice. "Tomorrow, we work together to find Tanith. Any further involvement at this point would not be a good idea."

China nodded.

"I'll see myself out," Skulduggery told her, and he did. Light flooded in from the outside corridor, and then was snuffed out again like the flame of a candle. China was alone. In her ruined dress, in her ruin of an apartment.


	8. Chapter 8

When China woke the next morning, harsh sunlight filled her eyes. She'd left the curtains open. But she didn't get up to close them.

Last night, China's actions had been foolish and presumptuous. It was too early to show any semblance of pride - because pride meant that she had forgiven herself. China had not forgiven herself. And it was entirely the wrong message to give.

As for her dress almost falling off… that was definitely the wrong message to give. What on earth did he think of her now?

So, today she, Skulduggery and Valkyrie would continue to work on the case. As China got to her feet and stretched, she wondered what it would be like. After all, she was inferior now. Lower than Valkyrie Cain. Lower than a seventeen-year-old girl.

China ran a few fingers through her hair, checking for tangles. It was a delicate thing, she thought, to maintain her sense of humility whilst warming herself to the detective.

How was it to be done?

If it had been anyone else, China might have relied on her looks. But now, not only had her looks been blighted, but it had become clear that it wouldn't work on Skulduggery. Her influence and her beauty counted for very little.

She reached for her hairbrush. He valued other things, she assured herself. He valued somebody he could rely on. She could manage that. He valued a sense of humour, and hers complemented his exceedingly well.

China checked herself in the mirror.

Well. Skulduggery may have been immune to her influence, but looking less wretched couldn't do any harm. It would remind him of China's grace and charm.

So, what would she wear today?

She wandered over to her armchair. Her clothes were draped over the back. It had to be something understated, but classy. Humble, yet distinctive. Her current wardrobe didn't stretch to that. China must have been in a bad mood when she'd picked these clothes.

She sighed. "Back to the charity shop it is."

Valkyrie had caught about five hours sleep after Skulduggery took her home. She kept waking in the night and finally got up at eight o'clock with a stiff neck. She greeted her parents at the breakfast table with as much cheer as she could muster, then let her reflection out of the mirror and headed down to the pier.

It was a bright and windy day. The sky above her was blue, but dark grey clouds hovered ominously in the distance. The weather had been weird lately.

Skulduggery had explained the night before that he'd had a tip-off about Tanith being held in Kildare. He hadn't spoken to Ghastly about it yet, but promised to do so once he'd narrowed the field of suspects.

When she reached the end of Haggard pier, Skulduggery was there, leaning against the Bentley, the facade tattoo hiding his skull from curious onlookers. After a moment he looked up, and Valkyrie waved to him.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Not really."

He shrugged. "I thought you might have mastered the skill by now."

She leaned against the Bentley too, then hopped onto the bonnet and sat there. "Must be trying too hard. So, who's on our list?"

"There are about forty from the last month, but I'm interested in the man who went to Equivocus Dew a couple of days before the letter was sent. Do you remember Arthur Dagan? He was that nice blond man who vomited in your hair at the Requiem Ball."

"How could I forget?" Valkyrie sighed miserably at the memory. "That was so embarrassing."

"Well, good news. Today you get to make a new first impression."

"With Dagan? No thank you."

"Not Dagan. His son, Hansard Kray. That;s who we're going to see first, to find out what his father's been up to. He seemed a nice respectable boy when we last met him. I think he'll cooperate."

Valkyrie thought it through. "Why would Dagan want to lead us to Tanith?"

"Perhaps he's using her as bait."

"So you think he wants to pick a fight with us for stopping the Faceless Ones and everything?"

Skulduggery adjusted his hat. "It's one possibility. Oh, by the way, China came to see me yesterday."

Valkyrie looked up at him. "What did you do?"

"I took her with me to Kildare to retrieve the list from Dew."

"Wait, you're involving her in the investigation?"

"For the moment."

"Why?"

Skulduggery looked out at the sea. The light brown hair of his facade was beaten about by the wind for a few seconds. "China," he replied slowly, "is seeking atonement for leading the Diablerie in kidnapping and murdering my family. I find her futile efforts amusing. Besides, she and her connections might be useful later on."

"Right," said Valkyrie, somehow unconvinced.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of involving her any more than is necessary."

Valkyrie nodded. She kept her gaze on Skulduggery, watching his expression, but he remained impassive.

It wasn't that she was uncomfortable around China. She didn't hate her, either, not really. But Valkyrie didn't understand why she was back with them. Skulduggery had never been too clear about his and China's history. She knew that China had led the Diablerie during the war, before she stopped worshipping the Faceless Ones and became neutral. Skulduggery, of course, had fought on both sides. How long had they known each other, then? Was there ever an element of trust; anything on a personal level at all?

Valkyrie shook her head. No. Skulduggery knew better than to trust China, and he was perfectly capable of making his own decisions.

Then Skulduggery looked up. Checking that they were alone, he quickly deactivated his facade and went to meet China in the road. Her clothes were simple - a long blouse and black trousers - but somehow she looked as elegant as she had always been. Valkyrie glanced at Skulduggery again to gauge his expression, then realised that his face was gone.

"I'm sorry if I have kept you waiting," China said. "To whom are we paying a visit?"

"Hansard Kray," Skulduggery responded curtly. "His father may be the one behind this."

"Hansard Kray," China repeated. "Still living in Wicklow, I believe."

"Let's go."

Valkyrie hopped off the bonnet, waited for Skulduggery to unlock the car and then climbed into the passenger seat. China got in the back, and they drove.

In the car, Skulduggery drove without making conversation. Once or twice, China leaned closer to the front, watching the road, but he knew where he was going.

China started to wonder about Kray. Eighteen years old and descended from royalty, and yet the polar opposite of his father. She wouldn't have thought it possible to have been raised by an embittered, arrogant zealot and turn out relatively normal. After all, her parents had been –

"God, my neck hurts," Valkyrie said.

Without a word, China took a couple of leaves from her pocket and handed them to Valkyrie. Without a word, Valkyrie began to chew them.

She'd met Kray at the Requiem Ball, China remembered. The fact that she remembered surprised her, as it had been a busy evening. From what she could gather, the two young people had gone on quite well. Was Valkyrie interested? China stopped herself, shook her head, for Valkyrie did bring out the matchmaker in her, and that wasn't allowed.

Arthur Dagan's house was behind a long, wrought-iron gate, keeping it at a distance from its neighbours. Skulduggery parked the Bentley beside the front gate and they flew them over the top; first Valkyrie, then China. China wondered if he could smell her perfume. It was refined and delicate and she'd used the last of it that very morning. They landed softly and walked to the door without speaking.

Hansard Kray answered the door after a few minutes.

"I told Father that the gate would be useless," he sighed. "Though, as it is yourself, Detective Pleasant, I don't consider it a trespass."

"That's good to hear," Skulduggery replied. "We wish to speak to you. Alone."

Kray nodded. "Please, come in. My father isn't home." He stood aside to let them pass and noticed Valkyrie. "How nice it is to see you again, Miss Cain."

"Valkyrie."

"Valkyrie." He smiled, then waved them through.

The house was as grand as Gordon Edgely's and eloquently furnished. There were bookcases everywhere. They filled the space beneath the stairs, flanked each side of the hallway and consumed the living room they now walked into. China stared. The spines were the richest colours of red, green and blue; gold strips and embossed gold letters glinted at her. It was like a jewel box.

Though it was still early, a modest fire warmed the room. Three chairs sat before the fireplace. Skulduggery refused the seat he was offered, so Kray took the third chair opposite Valkyrie.

"How can I help you?" he asked, his hands loosely clasped. "Does this have to do with my father?"

"I'm afraid it does," said Skulduggery, leaning over the back of Valkyrie's chair. "What can you tell us about him?"

Kray thought. "Well, you know, of course, that he is a disciple of the Faceless Ones. His faith has not waned in all these years, although he does not engage actively in trying to bring his gods back. He has neither the determination of Baron Vengeous or the intelligence of Batu."

Skulduggery looked up sharply. "What do you know about Batu?"

"My father has done the research." He glanced briefly at China. "He had a fascination with the Diablerie for a time. One of our family was even a member before your side brought him down in the war. Wry Connor."

China remembered Connor. He'd been a slight man with a Napoleon complex, wiped out in the explosion that wounded Vengeous. But now was not a good time to mention this. Once they'd all glanced at her, they continued their discussion.

"We received information that your father recently paid for new magic from a man called Equivocus Dew. Are you aware of this?"

Kray swept his blonde hair out of his eyes; China saw Valkyrie adjust her own. "So that's why you're here," Kray said. "He must be up to something again."

"It looks that way."

This brought a blush into Kray's young face. "I am so sorry. I feel responsible for him and... I should have alerted the Sanctuary sooner. He has been leaving the house every day for almost one week. He has also been drinking less. I should have suspected..."

Valkyrie spoke for the first time. "Do you know where he is?"

"I don't. He asks me to wait in the house during the day. But he has been using our driver to take him out into Kildare. If I call him, perhaps he can answer your questions directly." Kray was talking to Skuldugery now. "Use whatever methods you deem fit."

Realising that they had precious little time left, China stood gracefully and excused herself. She drifted back into the hallway. It was almost like being back in her library. No windows here to fade the spines of the books. They were so beautiful it made her feel quite dizzy. She stroked one of the covers. Leather. Red.

Quickly, she slid the book out and tucked it into the waistband of her trousers. China had lost some weight in the last month. Hopefully nobody would notice the added bulk of the book. She didn't like stealing as a rule, but she suddenly and desperately wanted to start another collection. Perhaps there would be another library. Perhaps Skulduggery and Valkyrie would come there for magical solutions to the many problems they seemed to encounter on a case...

Just then, Valkyrie came into the hallway. China stepped back. By demurely holding her hands down in front of her, she concealed the shape of the book under her clothes.

"Hello," Valkyrie said.

"Hello."

There was a pause.

"What are you doing out here?"

China smiled charmingly. "Getting some air. I was feeling a little light-headed." Not far from the truth, she thought. "And you?"

Valkyrie sighed. "Hiding."

"From Master Kray?"

"Hansard. Yes. The last time I saw him, his dad was sick all over me."

China managed a sympathetic nod. "Tragic."

"Cheers."

"No, truly, I feel your pain. I also know that a young woman of your strength and intelligence will not let it affect her. He looks rather like young Fletcher, doesn't he?"

There was a beeping noise and Valkyrie checked her phone. "Don't you start."

"I'm sorry?"

"Skulduggery's already teased me about having a type. It's not my fault Fletcher and Hansard are both blond. Anyway, I'm not interested in him."

"Well, my dear, I think he's interested in you."

She looked up. "Is he?"

"Why wouldn't he be interested?"

Valkyrie shrugged. "You've got me there."

"Men can play hard to get too," China told her, "unbeknownst to most women. I know you're challenged nearly every day as a detective and wish for nothing remotely challenging in your love life, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy to attain. Your patience will be..." Her vision ebbed and she sat on the bottom stair. "...Rewarded."

Valkyrie peered at her. "You OK?"

"I'm fine."

"When was the last time you ate something?"

China thought. "Three days ago."

She heard Valkyrie sigh. "Wait here," she said.


	9. Chapter 9

Hansard Kray was too polite for his own good, China decided, sitting up in bed with a plate of toast. Perhaps he wasn't Valkyrie's type after all. She'd get tired of his obsequious nature too quickly.

China finished the toast and perched on the end of the bed. This room had yet more books – all beautiful, but too large to sneak out of the house. Luckily Kray hadn't noticed the first book as he'd helped China up the stairs. He had said something to her, but she hadn't heard.

She examined the book she'd collected. Musings on the Soul by Raymond Carniferous. The name was familiar.

When Skulduggery let himself into the room, China stood, leaving the book where it was.

"Feeling better?"

"There was really nothing wrong with me." She faced away from him, kept her head down. "So, are we waiting for the driver?"

"We are. I don't hate you."

"You... Oh?"

"I'm too busy to hate you."

"Oh."

"But..." Now it was Skulduggery's turn to look away. "Things can never be as they were, China. I know we were friends, and I know that you will never go back to the Diablerie, and I know that you're sorry. But the fact remains that I can't look at you without seeing my wife and child." He sighed, speaking more quietly. "They were my family. I was..."

China moved towards him. Carefully. "It was hundreds of years ago. You grieved, you moved on. You have moved on, Skulduggery, truly you have."

"They were still my family."

"And if you keep thinking about them, you're doomed to spend the rest of your days alone. You don't have to be alone. Neither of us do."

Skulduggery shook his head. "I do."

China thought she would have the words ready by now, but they came out clumsily. "What other woman understands you the way I do? Skulduggery, I don't care who you were or who you are. I know your nature. I even knew Vile. He liaised with the Diablerie many times and when he talked to Baron Vengeous I saw him tilt his head, just the way you do." China took Skulduggery's gloved hand. "But you are not Lord Vile. You're a better man than that."

Skulduggery retrieved his hand. "Then you don't know me as well as you think. Lord Vile murdered your parents."

"I know; I saw it happen. But it was Lord Vile, not you! You're not the same!"

"We're exactly the same!" Skulduggery roared. China realised his hands were clamped onto her arms, shaking her. "Everything Vile did, I did. Of all the truths I buried in the war, my own secret is the worst and no matter what, I can never excuse my actions. I can never forgive myself. I have to be alone!"

The words rang in China's ears. Realising, Skulduggery released her. He lowered his voice. "You killed my family. I killed yours. The truth has ruined any chance we had, China. It would be impossible."

"What about everything that happened before you knew the truth? That first dance when the war ended, the cases we solved together, the way we talked long into the night like friends..."

"I know."

She drifted closer. Carefully. Her heart was beating in her ears. The whole room had a pulse.

"I don't think," Skulduggery insisted, beginning to sag, "that this is a good idea."

China pressed her head against his shoulder. "But what do you feel?"

Even in her heels, China wasn't as tall as Skulduggery. But she stood on her toes, pulled on his tie, guided his head to hers. Then she kissed him just once, softly and sweetly on his cheekbone, because he had no mouth. She drew back, smiling weakly.

"You have toast in your teeth," Skulduggery said.

Hansard had opened the curtains while they waited for Dagan's driver, so there was more light in the room. Valkyrie had asked a few more questions about Dagan, but each time, Hansard responded by apologising and blushing a little deeper.

"You don't have to, you know, apologise so much," she said.

"Oh," he said. "Sorry."

"No, it's grand, its..." Where was that going? "You're really polite."

Hansard nodded. "It's a virtue my family is known for. My father insists-"

"OK, well, we've heard a lot about your father today," Valkyrie said, in what she hoped was a light-hearted tone of voice. "What about you? I mean, er... what kind of things are you interested in?"

"I like to read."

"Oh, right." Valkyrie hadn't read anything in a while. Probably the last thing she'd read was Harry Potter. She didn't really have time for any of that kind of stuff. She had to concentrate on other things these days, like the end of the world.

"I hear you practice Necromancy and Elemental magic," Hansard said suddenly.

"Er... yeah. I do."

"I have heard many stories about you and the detective, of course, but your magic is interesting. Is it difficult to make the switch between powers?"

"Er..." Valkyrie said again. "Well, I can't really use Necromancy without this ring, so I suppose that helps." She showed him.

"It's a pretty ring," he said, looking in her eyes. "It suits you."

Valkyrie smiled and managed not to laugh like an idiot. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Hansard moved his fringe out of his face again. "I don't practice magic. My father has promised to teach me soon. I want to help you find him."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Maybe I can get him to listen to me."

The last of the glowing embers in the fireplace went out. Valkyrie shrugged. "Worth a try."

China went to kiss Skulduggery again, but he wouldn't let her. He hovered above the ground, so as to be out of reach.

"I told you, it wouldn't be wise."

"But-"

"What I feel is irrelevant." He sighed. "You don't understand. Sit down and let me tell you a story."

Dutifully she sat down, keeping eye contact. She didn't like that tone in his voice. He came back down, his feet touching the floor soundlessly.

"This story is about Lord Vile," he said. "You remember Lord Vile. The most brutal and indiscriminate killer on Mevolent's side... possibly any side. Well, one day, Lord Vile and Darquesse had a fight."

"Vile fought Darquesse?"

"China, kindly be quiet and let me tell my story. One day, he and Darquesse had a fight. She had potential, he could see that, even though she was just beginning. All that potential and power appealed to him. But still they had to fight. Vile felt something stir in the pit of his stomach. Something low and base."

"Base?"

"So he took hold of Darquesse's head," Skulduggery said slowly, showing her with his hands, "and pushed at her eye... until it burst."

"Oh."

"He went on to attack her in other ways, of course." Skulduggery paused. "Do you see what I'm saying? Lord Vile saw a formidable young woman, singled out the softest, most sensitive part of her and pierced it."

"Oh." China felt how shallow her breathing had become, worked to get it back under control. "This wouldn't be some sort of Freudian analysis, would it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind. I just meant to say that you shouldn't read too much into one burst eye. Is that the end of your story? How did Darquesse react?"

Skulduggery regarded her for the longest time "She... allowed it to happen. I suspect she was curious, testing her pain threshold."

"And what if I was curious?"

He shook his head. "You have to trust me, China Sorrows. Nothing can pass between us, because no matter what history we have... no matter what I feel about you... there is a part of me that wants to kill you."

He crouched where she sat, staring at her.

She smiled. "'No matters' don't win an argument."

"They don't? Damn."

China's smile grew, and then faded as she leaned in.

"There's no romance left in me, China."

"I'll take what I can get." She kissed him.

Skulduggery's hand found her hair. "Bad idea."

"I have faith in you. Try to forget..."

"I don't want to forget." He brushed aside her hair, pushed aside the collar of her blouse. His long fingers traced the line of her collarbone. "You belong in the Louvre."

"And you said you had no romance left in you."

"Can we stop talking now?"

"Yes," she said, "yes, we can."


	10. Chapter 10

Tanith Low was used to some pretty sore treatment, but being chained up and left for three days straight was really getting to her. This was beyond inconsiderate.

When the metal door swung open, she was ready to argue with the figure that stood there. Then Tanith recognised the long spindly arms and legs. Nye coming to see her did not help one bit.

"I wonder what happened to your nose," she called out. "Did somebody bite it off because you tried to dissect them?"

Nye shrugged those pointed shoulders. Tanith couldn't see if it was smiling behind its face mask.

"I bite too," she told it more loudly. "Just ask Billy-Ray. If you let him in here, I'm sure he'll be happy to testify-"

"Calm down," it said. Tanith watched as it pulled a long metal table into the room. It was dented with long ancient grooves running across it, though most were hidden under the leather straps. This was Nye's operating table.

"This will be Valkyrie's, then?"

"That is correct."

"Will she be in any pain?" she asked. Valkyrie was, after all, a friend of hers.

Nye shrugged again, then laughed at her expression. "I will be providing anaesthetics, of course. The pain she will be in after the procedure, however, is not for me to say."

"And you're just following orders from the big guy, right? You don't have any agenda of your own?"

"This procedure could be the culmination of my life's work," it said, testing the resistance of the buckles on each strap. "Luckily, they match the orders given to me."

"I trusted Mr. Big," Tanith pointed out. "Now look at me."

"That's what you get for trusting people."


	11. Chapter 11

As China followed Skulduggery down the stairs, she inhaled deeply from her wrist. Her perfume was fading, but she could still make out heart notes of jasmine and sandalwood, and base notes of musk and vanilla. It was a soft, sweet scent. China liked that. It was probably wasted on Skulduggery, though the full extent of his remaining senses was still a mystery to her.

Hansard and the driver met them in the hall. "Detective Pleasant, this is Mr. O'Donnell."

China blinked, unable to believe it at first. "Jerome O'Donnell," she said, gazing at his flame-red hair. "You're the one who brought me the note about Tanith."

"Really?" Skulduggery's head tilted, taking his gun loosely in his hand. "Well, this just about confirms that we're on the right track."

O'Donnell stupidly put his hands in the air. Then Valkyrie appeared from the living room and stepped round him. "What confirms we're on the right track?"

"Dagan's driver is the one who told us Tanith would be in Kildare." Skulduggery produced his gun and O'Donnell eyed it nervously. "The question is, is he telling the truth?"

"Of course I am!" O'Donnell insisted, in a higher pitch than China remembered. "I've been driving him to Kildare every day. I've seen Tanith Low with my own eyes."

"What are they doing to her?"

"Just keeping her in a secure spot. In a sort of bunker in Carragh."

Skulduggery took out his phone. There was no need to keep the gun trained on O'Donnell, because now Hansard Kray had him by the shoulders. Kray was blushing, of course.

"I need to speak to Elder Bespoke," murmured Skulduggery. "It's Detective Pleasant." The next moment, Ghastly Bespoke's voice came out on speakerphone.

"Skul," he said urgently. "I was going to call. Doctor Nye is missing."

Valkyrie blinked. "Wait, what?"

"What do you mean, Nye's missing?"

"It hasn't been seen near the Sanctuary for days. We need it brought back as soon as possible."

O'Donnell spoke up. "I've seen him, too. In Kildare."

For a moment, Skulduggery paused. "Ghastly, I'm investigating into Tanith Low's supposed appearance in Kildare. It's possible that Nye is there too."

"What?" China heard a medley of emotions in Ghastly's voice. "You've found her? What is Nye doing to her? For God's sake, Skulduggery, where is she?"

China stormed over to O'Donnell, making him flinch.

"Address," she ordered. "Now."

"He calls it the Daganbunker," O'Donnell squeaked, wriggling in Kray's grip. "In Carragh. I can take you there now."

"Good answer," China smiled.

"Send the cleavers," she heard Skulduggery say.

This time when they got in the Bentley, Skulduggery sat O'Donnell in the passenger seat so that he could direct the way. China sat in the back between Valkyrie and Kray. Part of it was having a clear view of the road ahead, but it was also prudent at this point to keep the young people separate. Hopefully, Kray would realise how much he wanted to sit beside Valkyrie and would overcome his shyness. China was old and wise enough to know how men worked. Well, most men.

"How is Arthur Dagan in a bunker, anyway?" Valkyrie asked aloud. "Ireland was neutral during World War Two. I mean, I know we got a few bombs dropped on us, but..."

"This bunker may not have been built in the Emergency," Skulduggery said. "They were used in our war, with Mevolent. As well as being magically reinforced, they are hidden from non-mages with cloaking spheres and so on. Can we assume from its name that the Daganbunker was built by your family, Hansard?"

"It was," he replied, "though I've never seen it."

Once again, China's own perfume registered with her. She thought about Skulduggery's scent. She suspected there was a little cologne on his collar and cuffs, because when she was close, she smelt fern and sycamore mixed with the leather of his gloves. It was a wonder how a mere skeleton could be so charismatic. But Skulduggery wasn't really a mere anything.

China could hardly believe she was thinking like this, but it was the truth. He was her soul mate. He'd been the one to challenge her and change her over the years. Maybe he'd be true to his word and kill China in the end, but she was determined to enjoy every moment until then. "You belong in the Louvre..." That would stay with her for a long time.

China shut her eyes. Enough. They were going to find Tanith now.

From what little information they had, Nye would be there, and so would Dagan and whatever his new power was. She had to wonder why Doctor Nye was there. Was it there to operate on Tanith, remove the remnant inside her? Nye was interested in the soul in all its forms, after all.

She sat upright. She'd left the book in Dagan's house. It was red and it had a bookmark. Musings on the Soul by Raymond Carniferous - the man who invented the Soul Catcher.

China glanced across at Hansard, who rested an arm on the window. His hand was long and pale, stained yellow at the fingertips. "Master Kray," she murmured. "Was your father interested in the soul?"

A strange look flashed into Kray's eyes. "I'm sorry?"

"I noticed a book in one of your bookcases," China said, "that has been retrieved and bookmarked, probably recently. Musings on the Soul. Could that have anything to do with his plans?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. What makes you think that it does?"

"If Nye is involved..."

Skulduggery turned his skull to them, listening.

"What do you think he plans to do?" said Hansard, clearly concerned.

"Tanith Low is possessed by a remnant," China told him. "I think your father may wish to tear it out of her."

Valkyrie leaned forward as far as her seatbelt would allow. "But he can't do that. He could kill her!"

"If that's what he wants to do, why would he hand us an invitation?" said Skulduggery.

"He wants us to watch," Valkyrie said fearfully. "He wants us to see Tanith being sliced up by Doctor Nye."

The Bentley sped up, making O'Donnell yelp. "We can stop him," Skulduggery said. "We have cleavers on our side and we also have the element of surprise. But it would help to know what power Dagan has given himself."

"I have no idea," Hansard apologised. "As soon as this is over, I shall have to convince him to relinquish it. I'm so sorry; I never knew he was capable of this."

"We'll take care of it," Skulduggery assured him.

The bunker was underground, hidden in the middle of a field. O'Donnell made Skulduggery park a little way away and they walked to the spot he indicated. The metal hatch was obscured by long grass and weeds. Skulduggery knelt down and moved them away.

"That's it, there," said the driver. "It should still be unsealed."

"Excellent," Skulduggery said. "You can go now."

"Go?"

Valkyrie nodded and pointed back the way they'd come. "Thanks for your help, but we don't really need you now. Wait by the car."

"Not the car," Skulduggery interjected, "I don't want you breathing on the paintwork. You'd better stay in this field."

For a moment, O'Donnell just stood there. "You want me... to just stand in the field?"

"You can sit, if you'd prefer."

"But-"

"Good man." Skulduggery rolled up his sleeves, pulled up the metal hatch with both hands and let it rest on its hinges. "Oh, and Jerome, we'll know if you try to escape or warn somebody of our imminent arrival."

"Trust me, I won't."

Valkyrie smiled. "He's so well behaved; it's lovely."

China noticed Hansard press his lips together, possibly to hide a smile of his own. They went down the hatch, down a rusting metal ladder. China's shoes scraped on each rung, dislodging more rust. Not for the first time, she thought it would have been better to wear flat shoes.

The ladder ended and they stood in an open space with concrete walls. China couldn't tell yet how many rooms there were under here, but it was big for a personal bunker. There was ventilation coming in from somewhere, making the air taste recycled and dusty.

"We'll spread out," Skulduggery said, loading his gun. "We're looking for Dagan, but we don't want to kill him. The same goes for anybody he may have working for him."

"Thank you very much," Hansard said with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean, it goes without saying" Valkyrie assured him. "Are you sure you want to be here?"

He nodded and turned his head, scanning for the nearest door. "I want to confront him about what he's doing. I want to tell my father that he cannot go on carrying out these acts of terrorism."

"There might be fighting."

"Just because I do not practice magic doesn't mean I cannot be of any use. I want to help."

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery, but he didn't give her his opinion, so she turned back to Hansard. "Come with me then. Stay behind me in case there's trouble."

"OK."

Skulduggery left a message on Ghastly's phone and put his phone away. He nodded to China and walked to the first door, and she followed. Valkyrie and Hansard disappeared through another door. The musty air was starting to get to her, tickling her lungs unpleasantly.

"What if we find Tanith first?"

"If we find Tanith, then we retrieve her, put her somewhere safe and then arrest Dagan and Nye."

China paused. "Do you think anybody else is involved?"

The room they emerged into was dark and empty, but there was another door at the far end. "It's acknowledged within the Sanctuary that Tanith has been travelling with Sanguine," he said. "He is either involved, or he is trying to track Tanith down. If we encounter him down here, he should be easy to take care of."

"Anybody else?"

Skulduggery looked at her. A sliver of light from the doorway they'd just left caught the jutting-out parts of his skull. "I think we're about to find out."

This was a weird experience, Valkyrie thought, going through a dimly lit underground bunker with Hansard Kray to arrest his father (and probably kick him in the face). She still couldn't believe that Hansard didn't do any magic at all. How did you survive without magic? Maybe afterwards she could show him a few things. He needed something to defend himself against his father.

What was it like, having Arthur Dagan as a father? All those rules and expectations. All that responsibility of upholding the family honour - whilst having to carry a drunken parent up the stairs every evening. No wonder Hansard was so reserved.

"Aren't your parents worried about you?" he asked from behind her.

"What?" she said, caught off guard. The flame she's been holding in her palm went out. "I... Sorry, hang on..." She lit it again. "They wouldn't be, no. I've got a reflection at home that happens to be really convincing. I use it nearly every day."

"That makes sense," he said.

They came to a door, but it was locked. Valkyrie let the flame go out and splayed her hands. She had to force the air into a small but powerful jet, just like Skulduggery had taught her. It was what he used to break open locks. But every time, the jet wasn't focused right.

"Maybe we could pick the lock." Hansard's hand went to her fringe, and Valkyrie held her breath. "Do you have a hair slide?"

"No," she said. Hansard stopped looking. "I might have a paperclip somewhere, though." Valkyrie began to search her pockets, and Hansard looked through his for good measure.

"There's something I want to say before you arrest my father."

"What's that?"

"Well, I think you're really pretty."

She turned. China had said that nothing worthwhile was ever easy to attain. Maybe she should play hard to get too. "Thank you," she said, turning back to the lock.

"It's hard for me to say," he went on. "I expected you to look your best when I met you at the ball, but you're... you're always pretty."

Valkyrie smiled and turned back to him.

"That's not all," he said. His hands were still in his pockets. "I think you're-"

"Hansard, really, thanks." She waited for a moment. "Do you want to kiss me?"

"Yes, I do." He still didn't move. "Sorry."

Sighing good-naturedly, Valkyrie put a hand on his shoulders, closed her eyes and leaned in. Then she frowned, because her face was full of cloth and she must have missed. That had only happened once before with Caelan, and he was taller. At least he smelt sweet. It was a strange smell, actually...

She drew her head back, which was more difficult than she'd imagined, and saw Hansard putting a damp rag back into his pocket. Valkyrie tried to reach out and scratch him, shout for Skulduggery, anything, but it was too late. She'd been drugged and she was falling to the ground.


	12. Chapter 12

Valkyrie woke up in shackles. In the corner opposite her was somebody she recognised immediately.

"All right, Val?"

"Tanith!" Valkyrie tried to get up, but the room was moving around under her feet. She got onto her knees. "Hansard Kray and Arthur Dagan - they're the ones-"

"I know," she sighed. Tanith wasn't looking well. Her blonde hair hunk lankly around her face and her skin was grubby. "I've been here for days. I'm bloody starving. They only let me out now again to have a pee or a drink."

"But why are they keeping you here?"

"To get you and Skul here, mainly." The remnant in Tanith bloomed on her face, showing dark veins. "It's going to be about Darquesse. They're going to use Nye to restore you to glory."

Valkyrie frowned, trying to remember what had happened just before she'd blacked out. She's been cloroformed by Hansard. "But Hansard was so... nice."

The metal door swung open, and there Hansard Kray stood. A ventilation duct somewhere overhead made his blonde hair dance. He smiled at Valkyrie and lit a cigarette. "It's amazing what little it takes to shape a person's opinion of you," he said. "To your way of thinking, I must be embarrassed of my father, because I blush for him."

Valkyrie watched in horror as the colour rose in his cheeks again, then disappeared, came back, disappeared. "You told me you didn't practice magic."

"And you believed me. After the way Batu fooled you, I thought you might learn not to let your guard down so easily."

Tanith shrugged. "He has a point."

"My father eventually got us an invitation to the Requiem Ball," Hansard explained as he smoked his cigarette. "Our plan was to make you and the detective suspect my father, but also to trust in me. So I pretended to be complacent about our family's downfall, a polite and reasonable boy who was just pleased to be there. And, to my surprise, it worked splendidly. I am sorry that my father vomited so close to your hair, though."

"Makes all the difference, that," Valkyrie muttered.

"And so began the next part of my plan. I went to Equivocus Dew and bought magic from him using my father's name. I used this magic to track down Sanguine and Tanith. Together, my father and I convinced them to help us. They were told only that their cooperation would aid us in finding and capturing Valkyrie Cain."

"I wouldn't have done it if I'd known I was going to be chained up like this!" Tanith interrupted. "Where's Billy-Ray?"

"Elsewhere." Hansard blew smoke in her face as he passed. "Then I passed a note onto China Sorrows, knowing that she supplied you with information of this kind all the time. I also knew that she would go directly to Detective Pleasant and not the Sanctuary. If I'd known that the two had had a falling-out, I would have given the note to somebody else. Still, things eventually worked out for the best. You tracked us down."

"Why do you want China involved?"

"For my own amusement. She was once leader of the Diablerie, an old worshipper of our gods, now merely a traitor to the Church of the Faceless. I wanted her and the detective to witness your destruction."

Valkyrie blinked a few times. "So, that's it? You just want to kill me?"

"This is NOT what we agreed!" Tanith snarled. She lashed out, the shackles just keeping her back from where Hansard stood. "I thought we were bringing Valkyrie to glory!"

"Who do you think we are?" Hansard said in disgust. "Valkyrie Cain murdered two of our gods with that cursed sceptre. She does not deserve glory any more than she deserves my affections."

He glared at Valkyrie out of the corner of his eye. She felt foolish for presuming anything, for allowing a crush to make her lose sight of the investigation. But she kept it to herself. "You talk a lot," she said.

"When he wants to," Tanith spat.

"You'd better be prepared to explain all this to Skulduggery when he gets here," said Valkyrie to Hansard. "You and your father."

"Fine." Hansard stamped out his cigarette and went to the door. "Once I've destroyed you, Valkyrie, I don't care what they do to me." He slammed it shut.

"He loves doing that," said Tanith, spitting after him. "He loves himself. If we manage to get out of this, Val, can we agree to put aside our differences and kick his arse?"

"Sure."

Tanith managed a smile. "See, this is why you're my friend."

China followed Skulduggery to the next wooden door. He stopped and crouched to examine the keyhole.

"Locked," he said. "Too dark to see in."

"Can you unlock it?"

"Naturally." Skulduggery pressed one gloved hand against the lock, and China heard air whistling through it. For a moment, that was the only sound they heard.

I wonder where we go from here, she wondered.

"What?"

She saw him looking at her, realised she'd been wondering aloud. "I said, I wonder where we go from here."

"In the bunker?"

"No, in... With the..."

"Ah." He put his hand back on the lock; it had been resting on his knee. The air whistled. A moment later it stopped again. Skulduggery looked to be deep in thought.

"China Sorrows," he said, "how you have influenced my life. How you've changed me, and I you. Where do we go from here, indeed." He stood up. "I suppose we must go wherever our circumstances take us."

China tapped her chin thoughtfully. "But the last day or so wasn't circumstance. I came to apologise, you invited me on the investigation... I kissed you..."

"Are you saying it's my turn to change things?"

"Well, you have a choice."

"I suppose the next step involves sweeping you off your feet and ravishing you."

China raised an eyebrow despite herself. "It does?"

Skulduggery shrugged. "Maybe it's time I learned how."

"I'm glad we can joke about this sort of thing."

A moment passed, and there was something tense about it. China watched as Skulduggery turned his whole self to her. He came closer, and looked her in the eyes, and he put one hand on her, just below the neck. Her heart-rate quickened, and she knew that he could feel it.

"I've missed this," he murmured.

They stood there for a short time, sharing her pulse. Then he went back to the lock, leaving nothing but a hand-shaped blush on China's skin. Well, she thought, that was... that was... Well, there wasn't a word for it right now, but she felt that if only it would happen again, the word would come to her.

The lock Skulduggery was working on clicked open, and the door opened with a creak. Again, Skulduggery lead the way while China followed behind and tried to keep a lid on her thoughts. It was dark, almost too dark to see, until Skulduggery conjured a flame that showed the bound and gagged figure lying on the floor. It jerked as the door banged against the wall.

"HEEEELK!" it said.

Skulduggery went over first and started working on the ropes that tied the man's arms and legs, for it was a man. China knelt by his head and pulled out the sock gagging his mouth.

"That was unnecessarily disgustin'!"

China rolled her eyes. She only knew two people who spoke like that and this was the more annoying of the two.

"Sanguine," Skulduggery said, stopping what he was doing. "Is Tanith here with you?"

"I don't know!" His face was unwashed, greasy. "I ain't seen her for days. The two guys we thought we were dealing with double-crossed us and now we're a part of their sick plan. How's that for unfair?"

"What two guys?"

"Dagan and his boy, who do you think?"

Instantly, China thought of Valkyrie. They'd left her alone with Kray. So Nye had been brought in to deal with her?

Skulduggery grabbed Sanguine's hair and pulled his head off the floor. "What are they planning?"

It looked as though Sanguine was having trouble swallowing. "They're going to destroy Valkyrie Cain's soul. Maybe kill a couple of you into the bargain. He comes in here to gloat and blow his damn smoke in my stupid face - I mean, his stupid smoke in my damn face-"

"If we untie you," said Skulduggery slowly, "will you make yourself useful?"

"Do you know your way around the bunker?" China demanded.

"Most of it."

Skulduggery dropped his head. "Then we'll have to get moving."

"Well, I can't untie myself, Skeleton Man!"

Sensing the moment of battle was fast approaching, China congratulated herself on picking the suitable form of clothing and stepped out of her shoes.

Valkyrie sat rubbing her fingers together, feeling the space where her ring used to be. She liked her ring. She missed the feeling of dragging in the shadows, feeling the occasional cold sting of death on her finger.

"You look despondent," Tanith said.

She looked at her. "You don't normally talk like that."

"What?"

"'Despondent'. That's something Skulduggery would say, or Ghastly maybe, but... I don't know, I think I'd remember if you'd said it before. It sounds weird in your accent."

Tanith smiled and played with her shackles. "Well, Val, I think it's pretty apparent that I'm not the person I once was." There were those black veins again.

Valkyrie sighed and turned away.

"I'm still your friend, Val," Tanith was saying, "whether you like it or not. And we're going to get out of here."

"How? You're shackled and you don't have your sword."

"I'm due a bathroom break. If we're lucky, I can surprise him on the way back in and get us unchained."

"When are we ever lucky?"

"Things have gone our way before."

"Well, now my way is very different from your way. You were all for me getting shackled a moment ago, if it meant speeding along the whole Darquesse thing."

Tanith sighed. "I thought we'd agreed to settle our differences."

"All right, yes, I know, but waiting for a bathroom break isn't a good enough plan. We need to think of something else."

Valkyrie's old friend shot a withering look at her, but she knew it was the truth. They couldn't afford to wait. Skulduggery and China were in the bunker somewhere, but they couldn't rely on them. For all Valkyrie knew, Nye was seconds away from coming through that door.

"How exactly are they going to kill me?" she asked. "Is it Nye? Is he going to..."

"It's Nye," Tanith said slowly, "and it's to do with your soul. I thought it was about Darquesse, but it wasn't. They just want to destroy you. From the inside."

Valkyrie didn't like the sound of that. "But if I let Darquesse out... surely I can overpower them, even with this new thing Hansard Kray's picked up."

"Not if they destroy your soul."

"What?"

Tanith spoke gently. "I... I think that's their plan, Val. I'm afraid once they put you under to operate, there's nothing you'll be able to do."

"But how will they even know where my soul is?"

"I don't know, Val. I have no idea; that's why Kray and his father involved Doctor Nye, because he ought to know."

"Well, get us out of here then!" Valkyrie said, her voice raising half an octave.

A silence bore down, and Valkyrie tried to think. As long as they weren't depending on anyone else to help them, they had until that door opened to find a way to escape. She hated finding ways to escape. She hated anything that involved lateral thinking. Skulduggery was always better than her at that - finding clues, solving the puzzle. In the past, when she'd been alone and finding her own way out of a situation, she'd wriggled out with no real sense of victory, only an inescapable urge to kick him in the face.

But what had he said to her all those years ago? "There will be times when I'm not there to catch you." This looked like one of those times.

First, Valkyrie had to find out what wasn't possible. She turned to Tanith.

"Have you tried pulling out the chains?"

"Yes," Tanith said. "I've been straining away like an ox for days, but they haven't bloody moved."

"The shackles?"

"Same."

"What about picking the lock on the shackles? Is there any way-"

"There's nothing in here to pick them with. I've thought of everything, Val. I've even thought about fashioning a key out of my own hair and spit, but nothing's going to work. You want another layer of impossible? That camera," she said, pointing at the ceiling, "watches everything I do. Kray could be in here in a matter of minutes if he saw me trying to escape."

Valkyrie stared at the camera, which had a stationary view of the room.

"Tanith," she said from the corner of her mouth. "Do you reckon we're within reach of each other, tied up like this?"

"I think so," muttered Tanith.

"And if it looked like you were trying to kill me, they'd come running, right?"

"Maybe."

"And then we could kick the living daylights out of them?"

"You're so clever."

"I know." Valkyrie looked her in the eye. "We'd better build up to it, in case they're watching. Start arguing."

Tanith suppressed a grin. "I hate your face," she said.


	13. Chapter 13

China, Skulduggery and Sanguine moved as a group through the bunker. Skulduggery had Sanguine by the arm and was pushing him out in front, though not appearing to. From the front, it would have been hard to tell who was leading.

China was already missing her shoes. She doubted they'd even have time to stop and collect them on the way out. She doubted anyone would remember the way. Those shoes were history. They were destined to live out the rest of their days in darkness, gathering dust.

Why was she thinking like this? Couldn't she keep her mind on the case in hand for more than a few minutes? After all, it was about Valkyrie. It was about stopping Kray and his twisted associates hacking into her soul. She should have been as concerned about Valkyrie's safety as Skulduggery clearly was.

But she couldn't get her mind off those bloody shoes.

"How much further?" Skulduggery was asking.

"One of them uses this section," Sanguine replied, picking dust off his jacket with his free hand. "I know it. I was given a tour of the place before they knocked me unconscious three days ago." He tried unsuccessfully to relieve the grip on his arm. "Place is bigger than it looks, ain't it?"

"Your attempts to instigate light conversation do not interest me in the slightest, Billy-Ray."

"Hey, the only reason I'm helpin' you guys is to get back my honey-bunny, OK?"

China spoke up. "I'd have thought Tanith would be transferred immediately to the Sanctuary upon retrieval."

Skulduggery nodded. "That's the idea."

"Not going to happen, Mr. Pleasant."

"We'll see."

The three of them rounded a corner, walking straight into Nye.

There was a pause.

Skulduggery went for his gun just as Nye reached down with one terrifyingly long limb and picked him up. For his part, Skulduggery remained as calm as could be expected.

"I am about to offer you the chance to walk away from this," Skulduggery said. "Leave now, go back to the Sanctuary and testify. They might even let you keep your job."

Nye looked at the detective scornfully. "This is my job now. Taking apart the soul of Valkyrie Cain is all I've dreamed of doing for the last three years."

China watched, but Skulduggery's gun never wavered. "So that was your plan."

"It is my plan. I may be under orders from Kray, but I hold my own orders in much higher regard."

This was already getting ridiculous. China brought her left arm out before her and tapped two symbols at once. A beam of bluish energy hit Nye between the eyes and it stumbled. Taking advantage of its temporary disorientation, she moved in low, pressed her right hand against one of its spindly legs and shocking Nye's system. Beside her, Sanguine stepped back and hurled his straight razor. It hit Nye's knee, and while it was bent over in pain, Skulduggery hit it under the chin, rocking its head back.

Nye fell, and Skulduggery got back on his feet and turned to look at her.

China shrugged. "He was wasting our time," she said. "Kray's the one we want."

So they headed off again, but not before Skulduggery had snatched Sanguine's razor.

"Aw."

They followed this corridor to its very end and heard the sounds of struggle. The fight was not far away now. China's bare feet galloped along the stony ground, following the yells and thuds.

Valkyrie was rather good at fighting, having had both Skulduggery and Tanith as teachers. But at fake fighting, she needed more practice. She and Tanith were completely uncoordinated, slapping at each others hands or missing each other altogether. The only thing stopping them from getting the giggles was the pure direness of their situation.

"OK, look," Valkyrie said. "I'll actually hit you, and that should make you want to-"

A fist crashed into Valkyrie's shoulder and sent her sprawling back. She unsteadily managed to sit back up. "What was that for?"

Instead of answering, Tanith lifted her leg and brought it down hard onto Vakyrie's ankle, and she groaned shrilly as the pain struck. Anger rose in her belly and she hit back, getting Tanith in the neck. Now they were fighting. It was hurting her and probably Tanith, but it looked real, which was the important thing.

Two minutes went by. Nobody came crashing through that door. Nobody was coming.

Tanith jumped back onto the balls of her feet with a snarl and then launched herself at Valkyrie. They went back and Valkyrie's head cracked against the hard floor, and she cried out. She felt hands around her throat, strangling her cry.

"In a minute," Tanith said, quietly but evenly, "you're going to fall back unconscious, and stay that way for a while. Then we'll go for round two."

Valkyrie tried telling herself that Tanith meant no real harm, but the anger was still strong within her, impossible to dampen. She thrust her flat palm into Tanith's face, toppling her over.

"Hey!"

Tanith kicked her.

"Ow!"

There were footsteps coming from outside. Three sets of footsteps. They were all coming at once. Whatever Tanith was going to pull off to get the keys to free them, it would have to be spectacular.

"Finish me off..." Valkyrie managed to say. Tanith nodded, planted her fists on Valkyrie's shoulders, the knuckles digging in. Her knees were on Valkyrie's stomach, and there was a sudden memory of being attacked by Davina Marr in this way years before, and the blow from above was coming and she would be dead and Kray was on his way and-

The door opened, and China Sorrows was there, barefoot and looking dishevelled.

Valkyrie blinked one eye. "China?"

Then two more people appeared. Sanguine stumbled in first, looking just as haggard as Tanith. The two found each other and shared a passionate kiss that made Valkyrie feel slightly nauseous. Finally, Skulduggery entered and crossed the room to her, helping her to sit up.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice low and full of concern.

Valkyrie nodded and caught a glance from China. "Yeah," she said. "We were trying to get Kray's attention and get the key for the shackles."

Skulduggery tilted his head up, scanned the ceiling and found the camera. He merely nodded.

"We've taken care of Nye for the moment," said China. "We may still need the key to get you out of here."

"Oh, definitely," said a voice from the doorway, and they turned to see Hansard Kray, smiling and rolling a new cigarette with those long pale hands of his.

China stood in the corner of the room and watched Skulduggery go to Valkyrie. What he expected to do about her shackles, she couldn't begin to guess. As it turned out, he did nothing. Just checked she was all right. Touched her arm. Nobody else saw it, probably, but she did.

Something flared in the pit of her stomach.

"We were trying to get Kray's attention," Valkyrie was saying, "and get the key from the shackles." She glanced at China and her brow furrowed ever so slightly. China thought it must have been her expression that worried Valkyrie.

Good.

God! Why was she thinking like this? What was wrong with her? She'd done well in the last day or so - got herself back in the crime-solving scene, back by Skulduggery's side. She'd even managed to kiss him. She'd won! Why did she feel such a petty insecurity towards Valkyrie for simply being his partner, for simply... being there?

All this from a woman who was meant, in her middle age, to be cultured, sophisticated, charming, beautiful, intelligent and modest to boot. A woman who took all of life's unfortunate twists and turns in her stride. A woman who was not supposed to need anyone... even Skulduggery Pleasant.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sight and sound of Sanguine and his honey bunny slobbering over each other, both sweating like week-old rotisserie chicken.

She took a deep breath in, held it, and let it go.

"We've taken care of Nye for the moment," she said to Valkyrie, keeping her voice level and businesslike. "We may still need the key to get you out of there."

A familiar voice spoke from behind her. "Oh, definitely."

She turned and saw Kray standing there with a cigarette in his hand. His father, Arthur Dagan, was somewhere further back in the corridor. She'd recognise that wet-sounding cough anywhere.

Skulduggery turned with the other to face him. "Hansard Kray. We know what your plan is."

Kray smiled. "But do you know how to stop it?"

"We're working on it."

"That means no." He lit his cigarette.

Sanguine stood up. He was without his straight razor, but he could still fight, and for a moment nobody knew what he was going to do. Whose side was he on? The honey bunny squeezed his hand, then let him go. He stormed forward and swung his fist up, ready to strike at Kray.

But Kray smiled and calmly caught his fist, and then his skin began to glow. It glowed red. China saw the way Sanguine gritted his teeth and tried to free himself, and she knew it was the same power Equivocus Dew had used on her.

Dagan burst into the room and aimed a fireball at Skulduggery. Skulduggery ducked, the flames glancing off his hat, and fired one of his own. It missed.

Sanguine let out a long screech and finally freed himself from Kray's grasp, then fell to the floor and didn't get up. China was ready with one of her symbols and fired green lightning at his skull. He waved the lightning away and continued to glow red, then strolled in her direction. He dropped his cigarette.

Quickly, China dropped to her knees and snatched the cigarette, stabbed the lit end into his ankle. Kray hissed and stepped back. She brought her right leg out and swept it under him, and it only made him stumble, but China grabbed his legs and yanked. Kray fell.

Sanguine began to deal blows with Arthur Dagan, and China heard somebody's jaw crack.

China tried to flatten Kray down to stop him wriggling away, but he began to glow red again. Then Skulduggery was there, flying up and stamping hard on his head. Kray hollered in pain. She took the opportunity to search his pockets. The first one held only a dirty rag.

Kray elbowed Skulduggery in the chin.

The second pocket held a set of keys. China seized them and chucked them over to Valkyrie, who began immediately to free herself and Tanith, and then Kray's boot struck her in the face. She yelped more from surprise than pain and sprawled on the floor. Everyone was on the floor now. This was getting ridiculous.

"Freedom!" Tanith called, getting to her feet. Before China could blink, she'd rocketed forward and knocked over Dagan.

China wriggled away from the fight Kray and Skulduggery were now having. She found Valkyrie struggling to get up. Sighing, China took her under the arm.

"Let's go."

There were five wrestling bodies blocking the way to the door. China didn't see how they'd be able to find a way through until Sanguine stopped what he was doing, took Tanith by the hand and escaped out of it. Then Skulduggery got in a lucky shot and all but knocked Hansard Kray out, and they moved further into the corner. Now only a felled Dagan stood in their way. China tried to lead Valkyrie by the arm.

"No," she said, pulling back. "I need to get my ring back. Maybe Dagan has it."

"There isn't time!"

But she still kept pulling, so China let her duck back, land a few punches and fish her necromancer ring from Dagan's pocket. Then she turned and whipped the shadows from the room at Kray.

"Don't!" China called, not really knowing why.

Kray, who was on all fours being shackled by Skulduggery, did something China had never seen done before in her life. He caught the shadows between his teeth.

Valkyrie's eyes widened, and she tried to shake herself free of the shadows in her hand, but couldn't. Kray bore his teeth and inhaled, sucking in the stream of shadow, pulling Valkyrie across the floor towards him. Dagan pulled himself up, blood flowing freely from his nose. He was going to grab hold of her, take her to Nye.

China heard a noise echoing in the corridor, and she knew that something tall and spindly was scuttling up behind her. China turned slowly. They'd forgotten to shackle Doctor Nye. Its mouth was hidden, but its eyes grinned at her.

"Let me fix up that face of yours," it said, extending an arm.

China recoiled in disgust. She was ever aware that a struggle was going on behind her, but here she was facing Nye alone. So she raised an arm in turn, ready to strike, but it batted her away.

"Never mind," it said. "You're not the one I want."

Nye stepped over her and reached out for Valkyrie, trapped by her shadows in the teeth of Hansard Kray. China desperately wished she had just one of her shoes to throw at the creature. When she tapped a symbol on her shoulder and sent out a beam, Nye deflected it.

Ahead of her she saw Skulduggery in an arm lock, Dagan holding him securely. She changed her position and aimed at him. The beam hit his neck and he stumbled back. Skulduggery spun out of the arm lock and pulled his gun out.

China froze, waiting to see who he would shoot, saw him aim at Nye, then stopped freezing and kicked Hansard in the face. He yelped. The moment his mouth opened, the shadows retracted and Valkyrie was free.

"Oh no you don't!" Hansard flew at China, knocking them both to the ground. He gripped her hair and slammed her head down on the hard ground. Light exploded in her eyes. "Traitor!" Her head slammed down once more.

Two gunshots sounded. From somewhere in the room, Dagan screamed. Then China heard a sickening smack, felt herself being released and hugged the ground. Pain throbbed in her skull, but evidentally Valkyrie had got hold of Hansard.

She lay there for a long moment. She felt blood leaking from her nose and heard fighting going on around her, until slowly it subsided, and it was clear to her that one side - hopefully theirs - had triumphed over the other.

"Are you all right?" Skulduggery was asking.

Slowly, China sat up. Skulduggery stood across the room shackling Dagan's wrists, Nye had scuttled off and Valkyrie had Hansard up against the wall, her boot on his chest, a fireball held inches from his nose.

Speaking of noses, China was well aware that her own was still bleeding. Thinking it rude to sniff, she asked, "Does anyone have a handkerchief?"


	14. Chapter 14

China stood the next day on the pier, freshly patched up by one of the Sanctuary doctors. The sea breeze felt wonderful on her face, and for a while, it didn't matter that it was scarred and ruined.

"It's a nice day for letting our facades down," Skulduggery remarked from beside her.

She half-smiled at him as she pinned her long black hair down beneath her scarf.

"Are you cold?"

"No," she said. "Shall we walk by the rocks?"

"Why not? All we have to worry about are the sea dragons."

So, side by side, they walked down the pier, with only the creaking wood and stirring water below their feet for company. It was a welcome change from the events of yesterday. China was glad he hasn't offered to simply fly them down. The walk would be much more enjoyable.

Besides, this could be the last chance she had to see Skulduggery on his own, without Valkyrie at his side like a constant, smirking shadow -

Suddenly aware her shoulders were tense, she relaxed them.

"Well," Skulduggery said, "that was an interesting case. Could have gone far better."

"Do you think?"

Skulduggery nodded. "Kray claims that he was manipulated into doing what he did. Curiously enough, so does Dagan."

China raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's amusing."

"Personally, I miss the old days, when family still counted for something."

"I've been thinking about something," she said. "Back in the Daganbunker, nobody thought to shackle Nye."

He nodded again, more curtly this time. "I suppose my mind was on other- on the case in hand."

"Where is he now?"

"Escaped. We have agents out looking for him. But I have some bad news. Madame Mist has told me that, if Nye's claims of being manipulated prove to be true, he will be allowed to continue as one of the Sanctuary's doctors."

"Oh. " She knew all too well his feelings about Nye. "Well... they are short-staffed."

Skulduggery grunted in reply.

For another minute or so, they walked in silence. Despite the outcome of this latest adventure, and the affect it had had on Skulduggery's mood, China felt quite comfortable in his presence. She couldn't help thinking of their last kiss. Another question formed in her head, but China knew that if she asked it in the wrong fashion, he wouldn't answer. The question she had in her head now wouldn't do. The phrasing was all wrong. So she revised it, discarded a few specific pronouns, examined it one last time and finally asked,

"When was the last time you were in love?"

Skulduggery sighed and lifted up his head, and the air rushed into his eye sockets. She waited patiently for his reply.

"Sometimes, I ask myself," he said contentedly, "why I never left this part of the world. Here, I find the answer."

"Yes," said China quietly. "I used to be very inspired by the sea."

They reached the rocks and slowly picked their way across them.

"I haven't been in love for centuries," he told her. "After the death of my family, as you know, all I felt was rage." He paused. "In the years that followed, I did recover. But the very idea of falling in love again scared me. Even now, when..." He faltered. She'd never known him to falter. "The prospect of uncertainty I can handle. But love is a distraction I could do without."

"That sounds like something I would say."

He considered it. "I suppose it does."

Then China found a large rock she liked, close to the edge of the sea, and clambered onto it with difficulty. Skulduggery joined her and they sat, watching the sea. The tide was coming in.

"I wonder sometimes," China said. "About you and Valkyrie."

"What about me and Valkyrie?"

She sighed, hating what she was about to say. "The pair of you... will be together when Darquesse comes. There is not a doubt in my mind that you'll be fighting side by side to save the world, as you've always done. You've challenged and changed each other... And you trust Valkyrie more than you trust me."

He adjusted his tie; the wind was playing with it. "I've had good reason not to trust you, China."

"Of course. But still, it makes me wonder. After all, I won't be the one fighting by your side when the world ends. She will. So... would you ever choose me over Valkyrie?"

"Well," he said, "as a partner and a friend-"

"Skulduggery..."

"No." He tucked his tie away. "No, I wouldn't."

China nodded. "I thought so." She turned away from him. "I'm thinking of starting up the library again."

"Are you?"

She smiled weakly at him, feeling the air grow cold around her. "I thought it was time to find my place in the world again. Collecting books. Providing you and Valkyrie with invaluable advice, if and when you need it."

Skulduggery put one of his gloved hands on one of hers. It was a sad, reluctant gesture. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes. Perhaps we'll see each other soon."

"Perhaps."

"I'll return to my peaceful existence-"

"And I will struggle with uncertainty."

China's smile grew a little. "You should go wherever duty takes you," she said.

Skulduggery dipped his head lower, then stood up on the rock. "Then I'd better get back to the Sanctuary." He paused. "Thank you for your help, China."

They looked at each other. Then China turned away and stepped down from the rock, towards the sea. The sound of his footsteps walking back was drowned out by the crashing waves.

She stopped to wipe her eyes, and then she stepped out of her shoes, making sure to put them on a high rock where she couldn't lose them. She'd lost enough shoes lately.

China glanced behind her, but he was gone.

The water moved closer, inviting her in. She hitched her dress up above her knees and stepped in. It was bitingly cold, but she didn't care. She walked further in, letting it lap against her bare legs. Then a bigger wave caught her by surprise and got her dress wet. So she uncaringly embraced the sea, feeling its great force pulling her back and forth. The salt filled her mouth, and she only smiled. Just like before, she stood in the sea, letting it pull her back and forth.

THE END


End file.
